Boot or shoe



Oct. 21 1924.

J. H. REED BOOT OR SHOE Filed Feb. 2. 1923 Fl -3- x/ gifwm Z M W4 Patented Oct. 21, 1924.

UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

JAMES H. REED, OF SWAMPSCOTT. MASSACHUSETTS, ASSIGNOR, BY MESNE ASSIGN- MENTS, TO THE LITTLEWAY PROCESS COMPANY, OF LYNN, MASSACHUSETTS, A

CORPORATION OF MASSACHUSETTS.

room on snon.

Application filed February 2, 1923. Serial No. 616,623.

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, JAMES H. REED, a citizen of the United States, residing at Swampscott, county ofEssex, State of Massachusetts, have invented a certain new and useful Improvement in Boots or Shoes, of which the following is a specification, reference being bad therein to the accompanying drawing This invention has for its general object to provide a shoe in which the advantages of either Goodyear Welt or turned shoes are combined with the economy of manufacture of shoes of the usual McKay type.

In the manufacture of McKay shoes the upper is lasted by being drawn over the edge of an insole placed on the bottom of the last, the edge of said upperbeing secured to said insole, usually by lasting tacks, and thus held in position for the bottoming operation, which consists in securing an'outsole to said insole and upper by a line of through-andthrough stitching uniting said parts. Between the lasting and bottoming operations the shoe is held together solely by the lasting tacks which must therefore engage the insole with sufiicient security to withstand the strain of the stretched upper and any accidental forces tending to separate the parts. To this end it has been found necessary to clinch the tacks, which is usually done by driving them entirely through the insole and against clinching plates spficlially provided on the bottom of the last. e lasting tacks remain in the completed shoe, and notwith standing their clinching, which is often imperfectly done, projection of their ends into the'interior of the shoe is objectionable and frequently leads to considerable discomfort on the part of the wearer.

Various attempts to overcome these difficulties have been made, such attempts usually involving the channeling of the insole,

' to provide a separate lip to which the upper is secured, or to receive special clinching plates for therpurpose of clinching the tacks at an interior surface between the top and bottom faces of the insole. So far as I am aware such attempts have all been unsuccessful, since the expedients proposed have either failed to secure the parts together In accordance with one feature of the present invention there is employed an intact or unchannelled insole to which the upper is secured by metallic fasteners so driven asto be clinched within the body of the insole and thereby firmly engaged therewith without completely penetrating the same. While particularly adaptedto Me- Kay shoes, it will be obvious that this feature of the invention is applicable to the attachment of the uppers to the insoles or outsoles of shoes of other types.

Another serious defect inherent in shoes of the McKay type is caused by the chainstitchseam which is employed to connect the insole, outsole, and upper. Such a seam is little more than a mere basting, cannot be drawn sufiiciently tight to bind the parts together with the firmness requisite to a durable shoe, requires the use of needle holes larger than the thread which admit moisture and through which the thread renders when worn, and greatly impairs the flexibility of the shoe. In accordance with another feature of the present invention, the several parts of the shoe are drawn and bound tightly together by means of a lockstitch seam which, as hereinafter more fully explained, is entirely free from the above noted objectionable features of achainstitch seam.

The foregoing and other objects of the invention, together with means whereby the invention may be carried into effect, will best be understood from the following description of certain forms or embodiments thereof, as illustrated in the accompanying drawings. It will be understood, however, that the particular constructions and operations described and illustrated have been chosen for illustrative purposes merely, and that the invention, as defined by the claims hereunto appended, may be otherwise embodied without departure from its spirit and scope.

In said drawings:

Fig. 1 is a plan View of a shoe embodying the invention as the same appears after last mg and before bottoming.

Fig. 2 1s a transverse section, on a somewhat larger scale, of .the shoe'after the at-- tachment of the outsolo.

Fig. 3 is an enlarged detail view of the fastener or staple employed for securing the upper to the insole, showing the same before itis driven.

Figs. 4, 5 and 6 are diagrammatic views illustrating the mannerof driving the staples.

Fig. 7 is an enlarged fragmentary sectional view of a portion of the shoe, showing one of the staples after it has been clinched in the worlg.

Fig. 8 is a view similar to Fig. 1 of a portion of a shoe in -which the staples are inserted in a slightly different manner.

. The invention is herein shown as embodied in a shoe produced in accordance with the method disclosed and claimed in another application filed October 19,1923, Ser. No. 669,583.

or unchannelled insole 26 by a line of fasteners S, and an outsole 27 secured to said insole and upper by a line of through-andthrough stitching 28 outside of said line of cation, filed February 2, 1923, Serial No.

616,222. Each of said staples comprises a substantially straight head or to 10 terminating at each end in a prefera ly curved shank, leg, or prongll. The shanks 11 are concave toward one another, are preferably substantially tangential to the head 10, and comprise portions 12 adjacent said head which diverge from one another and portions l3-which converge toward their ointed ends 14, the arrangement being sac that the maximum width of the staple, measured across the shanks 11 at points thereon between the portions 12 and 13, is reater than the width of the head 10'or the distance between the pointed ends 14,. while said pointed ends are directed slightly toward one another. 7

The staples above described are driven to unite the upper 25 and insole 26 in accordance with the method and by means of the mechanism disclosed and claimed in applications Serial Nos. 616,621 and 648,935, filed February 2, 1923, and July 2, 1923, respectively. In accordance with the method referred to, said staple is driven through a throat 15 by means of a driver comprising a pair of driving members 16 pivoted or otherwise mounted for lateral movement upon a plunger 17 which is reciprocated by any suitable means, not shown. The throat Said shoe comprises an' upper. 25 having its edge secured to an intactconcave portions 18 merging. into straight parallel portions 19 spaced substantially to correspond to themaximum width of the staple and adapted to guide the same into driving position. The d'riving'members 16 are provided at the outer sides of their lower ends with projections 20 which engage said shank portions 12 laterally as the staple is driven.

In Figure 4 a stapleis shown in' the throat 15 in a position in which it is about to be driven by the driving members 16' into the upper 25 and insole 26 of a shoe held beneath said throat. As thedriving members 16 descend, the pointed ends 14 of the staple are caused to enter the work, being, however, simultaneously defiected laterally toward one another by the curved converging portions 18 of the walls of the throat 15. As-

the operation continues, as illustrated in Figure t'), causing the portions13 of the shanks 11 adjacent the ends 14 to be forced into the work, said shanks will also be progressively deflected inwardly toward one another as they enter the work. The arrangement is such as to cause the pointed ends 14 and adjacent portions of the shank' to pass into the work along or parallel to the curved lines generally indicated by the arrows on Figure 3, theportions 12 of the shanks adjacent the head 10 being gradually bent to form smaller angles with the head as this movement continues. The desired movement and bending of the shanks along the curved lines indicated is insured, and

buckling prevented, by the portions 20 of the driving members 16, which portions, after the points of the staple have entered the work, engage the curved portions 18 of the walls of the throat so as to give to said driving members a progresslvely increasing movement in a lateral directiontoward one another and thus contract the driver as a whole. This operation causes the staple to be compressed laterally, the shanks 11 being forced'toward one another so as to enable the staple to pass through the contracted open end of the throat, and supplying a progressively increased lateral component to the driving force, which is-thereby applied to the shanks in a direction substantially paral limit of its movement, as shown in Figures 6 and 7, the head 10 of thestaple passes through the open end of the throat, the por tions 13 of the shanks 11 thereof having been brought into a position substantially parallel with the head 10, being therefore clinched in the work'although spaced from the surface thereof oppositethat from which the staple was driven, and the portions 12 of said shanks having been brought into positions of substantial parallelism substantially perpendicular to the head 10.

In the preferred form of the invention, shown in Figures 1 and 2, the staples S are so set as to cross the edge of the upper, one shank of each staple passing through the upper and into the insole, and the other shank thereof engaging the insole only. With this arrangement the heads o the staples are disposed in the direction 0 the strain exerted by the stretched upper, while the clinched curved shanks thereof act as opposed hooks engaging the upper and insole, respectively, to oppose said strain and thereby securely link and anchor the parts together. If preferred, however, the arrangement shown in Figure 8, in which the heads of thestaples S are arranged parallel ,to the edge of the upper 250, may be employed, the shanks of said staples in this instance actingsubstantially in the same manner as the usual lasting tacks in securing said upper to the insole 260.

The stitching 28, as shown in Fig. 2, comprises-a lock-stitch seam which extends all the way through the insole, outsole, and upper. Such a seam can be tightened to any degree permitted by the tensile strength of the thread, thereby positively pulling the superposed parts together, embedding the stitches in the insole to a greater or less extent and wedging the thread locks into the outsol'e where they completely fill the rela-- tively small needle holes and constitute thread pegs which effectively hold the parts together even after the thread. has been worn away at the outer surface. Moreover, the several stitches hinge on each other like links of a chain and do not reduce the flexibility of the shoe, although firmly welding the parts together.

From the foregoing it will be seen that the fasteners S which unite the upper and insole are driven partway only through the latter but are nevertheless securely clinched or anchored therein without the use of clinching plates on the last or other appliances which must subsequently be removed from the shoe, and without requiring any channelling, slitting, or other modification of the insole, which is left intact. The inner face of said insole is unbroken by the points of the fasteners which are so retained and sheathed within the body of the material as to be incapable of working out of the insole at the inside of the shoe and injuring the foot of the wearer. The line of fasteners S, which can be inserted with no more trouble or expense than the ordinary lasting tacks, constitutes in effect a metallic blind stitch seam at the outer side of the insole, uniting the latter with the upper with ample security to prevent accidental displacement, and, although remaining in the completed shoe, not in any way disfiguring the latter or rendering the same uncomfortable, thereby obviating the necessity of the slip sole usually employed in such shoes to cover the inner ends of the lasting tacks.

It will also be seen that the shoe is firmly and permanently bound together by the flexible lock-stitch seam which may be embedded to-a greater or less extent in the leather. As a consequence, the shoe is as substantial, durable and water proof as a Goodyear welt shoe without involving the delays and expenses of production or requiring the equipment of heavy machinery incidental to the manufacture of welt shoes; is or can be made as light, flexible and comfortable as a turned shoe without its limitations as to material, necessity of skilled labor, or difliculties and expenses incidental upper secured thereto by metallic fasteners extending only part way through said sole and having their points clinched therein.

2. A shoe having an intact insole, an upper secured thereto by a lineof metallic fasteners extending only part way through said insole and clinched therein, and an outsole secured to said upper and insole by a line of through-and-through stitching outside of said line of metallic fasteners.

3. A shoe having an intact insole, an upper secured thereto by metallic fasteners extending through said upper and only part way through said insole and clinched within the body of the latter, and an outsole secured to said upper and insole by throughand-through stitching.

4. A shoe having an intact insole, an upper secured thereto by a line of staples having curved shanks extending through said upper and only part way through said msole, and an outsole secured to said insole and upper by a, line of stitching outside of said line of staples and extending en'- ,tirely through all of said parts.

5. A shoe having an intact insole, an upper having its edge lying flat on the bottom face of the insole, permanent fastening &

means securing the edge of the upper to the insole, said fastening means comprismg sta les having shanks penetrating the insole on y part way, an outsole, and through-andthrough stitching passing through the insole, upper and outsole and securing all three together.

6. A shoe having an intact insole, an upper having its edge lying flat on the bottom face of the insole, permanent fastening means securing the edge of the upper to the insole without completely penetrating the latter, an outsole, and a through-andthrough lock-stitch seam passing through the insole, upper and outsole and securing all three together.

- 7 --A shoe having asole and an upper secured thereto by staples crossing the edge of said upper, each of said staples having a shank extending through said upper and into said sole and a shank beyond said edge extending only part way through said sole and havin its free end turned in a direction toward said edge. 

